Gaither's Injury: Just In The Nick of Time

The word is official. Eagles starting middle linebacker Omar Gaither is out for the season. Gaither suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his foot during Sunday's painful loss to the Raiders. Thanks to that game the Eagles have lost in more ways than one, with this injury and also the knee injury to defensive end Victor Abiamiri, which will sideline him for this Monday's game.

The only bright side to all this is the fact that it happened this week, and not next week. When Gaither went down in Sunday's game, the Eagles training crew worried that it was more than just a foot sprain or a bruise. Also, it was quite apparent that recently returned LB Jeremiah Trotter needs more time re-adjust to the level of NFL play. Andy Reid and the rest of the Eagles front office went to work trying find a replacement before Tuesday's trade cut-off. 

Again, thank goodness it happened this week and not next week.

Because this injury happened just before the trade deadline, the Eagles were able to make a last minute trade with the St. Louis Rams. The Eagles got starting linebacker Will Witherspoon, the Rams got rookie wide receiver Brandon Gibson and a 2010 5th round draft pick. It wasn't a huge move. It wasn't debated, or over-analyzed, or a big name splash, any of that. Witherspoon was a player that Andy Reid said he had wanted for a few years now, Omar's injury happening at the best possible time (as far as team injuries go) helped motivate Reid and his staff to make this trade happen.

Another reason to suffer this now, is this will allow Will a chance to help against the Redskins on Monday, but really learn the system before the other two big NFC East rival match-ups; Nov. 1st against the Giants, and Nov. 8th against the Cowboys. The Eagles need strength in the middle of the field for those two games.

While you wouldn't thank a guy for an injury, or ever wish it upon anyone, the Eagles can silently be grateful that the loss of Omar happened when it did. We all wish him a fast recovery.